Page 92 of Cruel Honor

“That you know of. Katya told me you tended to keep to yourself. Did you ever try to date?”

“Not really. I was a teenager when my dad died, and afterward … I didn’t want anything to do with that. It was too much at the time.”

“But now?” His arms tighten around me.

“Now …” My eyes are firmly planted to his chest. The sight of it makes me lightheaded. “Now, I feel more alive than I ever have before.”

He places his fingers under my chin and lifts my gaze to his. “You don’t have to be shy with me. I want you, Evie. I haven’t shied away from that.”

I want you, too. The words are on the tip of my tongue.

And then I hear the laughter.

“Oh my god. That’s the bitch who stole Tatiana’s man.”

I rip away from Dimitri and look back to the beach where two women stand, looking like models in their bikinis. I don’t know who they are, but they seem to know me.

They know Tatiana.

KnewTatiana.

“I don’t know them,” I whisper to Dimitri.

He lets out a low growl. “They’re Tatiana’s friends. I’ve seen them around the club before.” He plasters on his most charming smile and walks out of the ocean to greet them. “Anna,” he says to the blonde then nods at the brunette. “Ana.”

“You’re both named Anna?” I ask.

The blonde one rolls her eyes. “I’m Anna with two ‘ns.’”

“And I’m Ana with one ‘n,’” the brunette adds.

“I’m sorry. I haven’t met you before.”

Dimitri throws his arm around my shoulders. “What can we help you girls with today?”

Both of their eyes zero in on Dimitri’s arm and my shoulders. I’m not normally a petty person, but right now, it feels kind of good that Dimitri is marking his claim onto me.

“Tatiana’s missing,” Anna says. “Did you know that?”

I tense, but Dimitri doesn’t miss a beat. “Nope. Seeing as Tatiana and I are not married, she’s not my priority.”

“You’re not worried?” Ana asks. “She’s been gone for over a day now.”

“You sound judgy.”

“Of course, we are!” Anna exclaims. “You’re her man, and you’re out here fraternizing with another woman.”

“Tatiana was never mine, and I was never hers. We fucked. Once. Now, why don’t you girls go cry to your daddies.”

“We can’t,” Ana says. “They’re both dead.”

“I’m sorry,” I say instinctually.

They pierce me into place with their eyes. “They were murdered,” Anna says. “And we think we know who.” The look she gives Dimitri says it all.

“Who were your dads?” I ask.

“Boris Smirnov,” Anna says.

---